


C H E M I C A L.

by sunsflower



Category: Re-Animator (Movies)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Other, Prostitution, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:15:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27411040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunsflower/pseuds/sunsflower
Summary: ❝  𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐭'𝐬  ~ 𝐜 𝐡 𝐞 𝐦 𝐢 𝐜 𝐚 𝐥. ❞when Dan suggests that the resolution to Herbert West's problem is that he needs to get laid, it sends Herbert down a path that might have no return.AN;this is probably super clear but ""they"" is a gender ambiguous character, I always write my oc's like this (in fic and/or unless stated otherwise) like this. it’s up to each reader to decide how they do or don’t perceive “”they”” regarding gender identity
Relationships: Herbert West (Re-Animator) & Original Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	1. playlist;

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN:;
> 
> story starts with the preface which is the next chapter (2)!!

_a little death / the neighbourhood_

_when the sun goes down / arctic monkeys_

_a causal affair / panic! at the disco_

_undisclosed desires / muse_

_she / harry styles_

_lips / the xx_

_bones / the killers_

_young god / halsey_

_midnight show / the killers_

_violent love / oingo boingo_

_modern day cain / i don't know how_

_but they found me_

_doctor! doctor! / the thompson twins_

_want you back / 5sos_

_leave the bourbon on the shelf / the killers_

_jenny was a friend of mine / the killers_


	2. preface.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ❝ 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 ~ 𝐜 𝐡 𝐞 𝐦 𝐢 𝐜 𝐚 𝐥. ❞
> 
> when Dan suggests that the resolution to Herbert West's problem is that he needs to get laid, it sends Herbert down a path that might have no return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN:; 
> 
> this is probably super clear but ““they”” is a gender ambiguous character, I always write my oc’s like this (in fic and/or unless stated otherwise) like this.

_Inhumane men, have_

_human needs too,_

Herbert West had always believed that romance was pointless and sex was a distraction, and he didn't want to be distracted, he wanted to focus.

And now he wasn't even sure how they had gotten to this conversation, he couldn't really remember, he didn't really care. But they were here, and what Dan said next made Herbert scoff. 

" _Your problem Herbert is that you need to get laid._ "Dan had laughed when he said it. Of course it was a joke, but he wondered what Herbert would think of it.

What Herbert thought was that that was such a bubble headed way to look at this. But, Dan would think like that, Dan thought with the little head far too often, so for Dan maybe that would be a solution... But no, not for Herbert West. Herbert West did not have the time. Herbert West was a doctor, no a scientist, he didn't have time for silly things like that. _**Highly unlikely,**_ he thought.

 _"I really do not think that is my problem, Daniel."_ Herbert bit back, Dan could tell he had touched a nerve. But, Herbert, well Herbert was harmless, well... no not harmless, not harmless at all, but at least regarding Dan pushing his buttons he was harmless.

 _ **Get laid?**_ Herbert thought to himself, **_suppose, suppose_** , that was an answer to his problems, _**suppose**_ he was stressed because he was plagued with sexual frustration and tension, how was that to happen? The only person Herbert really knew around here, the only person who would actually stop and have a conversation with him, and that he would stop and have a conversation with for that matter, was Dan and that wasn't going to happen was it? Herbert studied the other man sat across from him for a moment or two... _**No, definitely not.**_

 _"That..."_ Herbert said with a stern and serious look on his face, his brows furrowed behind his glasses _"is highly improbable."_ And Dan chuckled again.

Nothing else was said on the matter between the two men that evening. Dan continued to eat his lunch and drink his coffee and Herbert sat over a notebook scribbling frantically away, his own coffee that Dan had prepared for him slowly going cold.

—

Later on, down in his; because he thought _**let's face it**_ , they both knew even though they shared the two bedroom house on Benevolence Street. the basement was Herbert's. Herbert sat on his stool, texts books and journals splayed all over the place, fiddling with some beakers and different chemicals. Yet, he found himself unable to fully concentrate on the experiment in front of him.

So slowly, but surely what Dan had said earlier that evening, had crept its way back inside of his head, and he didn't know why. None the less, there it stuck, the worm burrowing into the back of his brain. He almost hit himself on the back of the head. _**See, sex is a distraction**_. Herbert thought to himself, an _**aha I told you so**_ moment aimed directly at Dan. Secretly, although he had a feeling Dan knew, his favourite feeling.

But what Herbert West had not yet realised, was in fact that he was not the one who had had the told you so moment, it was in fact Dan who had told him so this time.

—


	3. I.

_so we lay, body to body, as_

_close as two bodies can be,_

It was the seediest place he had ever laid his eyes on. _**Who would have thought that Arkham had a brothel,**_ he had thought, when he had done his research on just how he might try out Dan's _**experiment,**_ and had found out about this place.

A couple of men and women had dipped out past him as he was making his way towards the door of the place, their heads down, walk of shame, not wanting to be noticed.

The outside was nothing really, it just looked like an ordinary house, similar to the one he shared with Dan. He supposed that made sense, inconspicuousness and all that. But the inside, the inside was different. It was exactly everything you would expect one of these places to look like. How stereotypical it all was almost made him chuckle. Just like the ones in movies and such, lots of velvet and suede all around the place, on the sofas, stools and things, quiet dark apart from the neon signs and lights hung all around the place. And lots, lots of scantily clad people coming and going between different rooms. 

Herbert West was not really sure what he was doing or why he was doing it. He didn't know why he was here, but he was here now, just like that. It was as though something had possessed him, carried him here. Animal or human? Was it curiosity, was it desire? He didn't know. He was unsure, of everything, of himself. Something that didn't come to Herbert West very often. He was taken over by so many thoughts and feelings, most of them foreign to him, uncharted waters he had never before visited. And, whether he was aware of it or not, he had resigned to it already. He had already given himself over to it. 

A red haired woman had answered the door to him, an older woman, she must have been in her late fifty's at the least, Herbert guessed. She was the Madam, the owner of this place, the one in charge of it all, whatever it was.

She welcomed him inside, to a reception room, his first look at this seedy, ridiculously cliché place.

_"Hey darling"_ She said, she was chewing on a piece of gum, a wide and friendly smile on her face. That must work on most people, Herbert thought. Not him. He wasn't here for niceties, he wanted to make use of her very useful business, wanted to test Dan's theory and get out of there. Quick as. 

_"I'd ask you how I can help you this evening, but I think we both know."_ She followed up, a laugh in her voice.

Herbert attempted to hide a scowl. He was having second thoughts. This was ridiculous, why was he here? He really should get back, back home, back to the basement, back to normality, back to his work, back... But his he stayed put, his feet firmly planted to the spot they were on.

_"Hmm yes"_ He said, a sarcastic smirk on his face. His eyes darting around the place, unable to believe that he, Herbert West standing here, doing **this**.

_"First time?"_ The woman spoke again, raising an eyebrow, still chewing obnoxiously on her piece of gum.

_"Uh, pardon?"_ He didn't know what to say, unusual for him. He was lost in his thoughts. Lost in this confusion within him.

_"I mean at a place like this, sweetheart"_ she laughed.

_"Herbert. Please. And yes"_ He said. She seemed slightly taken aback by his response, his directness was never lost on strangers. Something Dan had constantly tried to correct him on, told him maybe he should try a softer approach, to no avail. For the next few moments she asked him some questions. She said it was so she could make sure his needs were met, as best as possible, that was her job after all. And so she began to probe him; what did he like? _**Not certain.**_ Type? _**Not really...**_

He was growing impatient, he didn't have time for this. He cursed himself for even coming here, but he was here, and he couldn't back out now, he couldn't if he tried.

Because he found, that part of him, some deep unknown, unearthed, part of him wanted to be here. Maybe even **needed** to be here. And so it was.

__

It was like an out of body experience, that was the only way it could be described. The last half an hour or so had been a blur. **They** had approached Herbert and the Madam, casually, cooly, expertly. Interjected themselves into the conversation flawlessly...

Herbert West had had looked at them and that was that, the wheels set in motion, cogs turning.

The next moments passed without notice and so they had found themselves here, the two of them, alone together. Herbert sat on the bed, them standing in front of him, completely naked, beautiful, a flawless figure in a neon glow. He had found himself entranced, something he had never been by another human being before. But then, the being before him was ethereal, unlike anyone he had ever seen, or anything for that matter. He would have called them heavenly, if he believed in such nonsense. No false gods deserved credit for such splendid sights.

He found that it was almost like the scientist in him, the strongest part of him, the part he knew the most, the part of him he was most aware of, the part he was most in control of, wanted to take this creature before him apart. Experiment on them, learn about them, study them. He needed to know them, inside and out. Because surely, surely they were not real and he needed to know, what it was, how they held this effect over him.

But Herbert West would have to find other ways to study this person standing before him, and he would, oh he certainly would. 

This creature, this being, this person radiated by the green neon light illuminating the room, moved closer towards him, their movements so rhythmic, almost like a dance. The trance Herbert was in only deepening as they kissed him on the lips, bitting down, pulling on his his lip slightly before finally letting go. Their hand moving down, down toward his belt buckle. He felt his heart beat quickening and something else happening below his waist. 

And on it went, further, deeper, faster. It moved so seamlessly. They were nothing but bodies together, as close as bodies could be. Humanity was gone, instinct was all that remained.

_This was unlike anything they had experienced, he was unlike anything they had experienced. This job brought so many people in, so many different men, women, people. But, no they had never had a client like this. Like him. Whatever it was they were doing elevated beyond sex, far far beyond that. It was desperation, not just from Herbert, from them too. A complete loss of control. Not that control was wanted here nor was it needed, not from either of these two souls, certainly not now._

_They wondered who this man was, this stranger, with his dark hair, his bespectacled eyes and pretty mouth, who had come and made them feel like this, this way that they had never felt before, certainly never from a client. Who was this man that he knew his way around the body in such a way, so methodically, so seamlessly, so..._

And as their bodies intertwined in ways neither of them knew that they could, without realisation so did their minds.

That first night things were done that neither of them had tried before, and on and on it went for what must have been hours. Neither of them tiring, neither wanting to stop, the sheer adrenaline forcing them on and on.

And when it stopped, and they peeled themselves away from each other, the two of them just lay there, breathing heavily for another hour or so. Nothing but silence between them, they had said all they needed to say. There were no words to describe how they both were feeling. 

Eventually Herbert got up, putting on his clothes, as they still lay there, still bare, puffing on a cigarette. He didn't know what to say. 

_"Thank you."_ He said, it was all that he could fathom. _**Really? Thank you?**_ He asked himself. They just smiled, wide, still just laying there, their breath returning to normal, the moonlight through the window shining on them. 

Herbert West decided then and there, that he had seen the truest definition of beauty that there was. 

_"Thank you too, Mr?"_ They raised an eyebrow. It was usually the last names and nothing else they got, that are something fake.

_"West. Herbert. West."_ He found that he was smiling back.

"Well, thank you Herbert West." They stood up now, walking towards him, not bothering to cover themselves, hand out stretched. The two of them shook on it and they both found themselves laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation.

Herbert paid for the service, and then he left without another word. Back home, back to the basement, back to normality, back to his work. And he decided, that Dan Cain would never hear about this. Ever.

—


	4. II.

_how dare you, plant yourself so_

_firmly in my mind like_

_it's nothing to you,_

_As he left they watched him from the window, watched as he fixed his scarf, smoothed his dark hair back into place, watched as he hurried down the steps of the porch, watched as he crossed the road and made his was down the street and soon disappear around the corner, and he was gone. A shame._

_A few moments later they would go down stairs and ask the Madam if they might be able to take the day off. They weren't sure they had the energy to work after that. They would come up with something, some excuse as to why they suddenly didn't want to work that evening. She agreed, it was fine, no matter. And so they made their way back upstairs, back to the room they had made a masterpiece in together. They would fall asleep shortly after and wouldn't wake until late in the afternoon._

_Herbert West, that's what he had said his name was. They wondered if that were true, lots of people gave fake names here after all. They wondered why they might care, they didn't usually wonder about clients after they had walked out of the door. But, then again, there was nothing regular about this client. No he was an enigma. It was everything, from the way they had barely exchanged a word to one another, only the odd "fuck" and such here and there, to every last detail of those hours they had spent together. The hours that were unlike anything they had every experienced before, not just with any client but any lover, even the ones with the deepest connections. No. He and they had made the deepest connection two souls could, they were sure. They had redefined sex together, rewrote the rules, nothing else would surely do after that. What they had done was rare, so rare is it that two bodies come together in the way they had. They were sure of that. So yes, of course they cared about this particular client and who he was or wasn't._

_It was the sun through the window that woke them finally, in the late hours of the afternoon. The sun scorching them through the window pain as they lay, blanketless and almost naked on the bed. They hadn't slept like that in forever, a proper sleep, a deep sleep._

_And now that they had had the ideal sleep, they needed to eat something, they were in dire need of sustenance, they could feel their stomach growling. But first, they should get cleaned up. They didn't even want to imagine what they looked like right now, the state they must have be in._

_Standing in the bathroom, they looked in the full length mirror. Their legs ached. As they studied themself, they noticed, all over their body, were many different marks and bruises, of all colours; some blue, some yellow, some purple, some so dark they were almost black. Some were smaller than others, some larger, some hurt less and some hurt more. All their own memory of a touch, an individual moment in the nirvana, that was the last twelve hours . They ran over several of the bruises with their fingers. They winched as they touched them, they were fresh and the pain was still present, the touch of him still lingering._

_And as they showered, they couldn't help but think, of his hands on their body, skilled fingers, frenzied touch, those lips, his lips, that had written novels on on their skin. The memory of the chaos still fresh. Their hand moved down, down, down until they found themself and they began touching themself. It was unplanned, it was instinctive. They thought of his hand, thinking only of him, only of the way he had touched them, so delicate at first and then so rough without a pause in between, without a warning. It had been as though they were nothing but an object, something for him to take his frustrations out on. They didn't mind this, they liked this. **Yes**. They thought, there would be nothing better but to be the plaything of someone like that. _

_They kept going, going until they came, his face flashing before their eyes as they did so. Leaning back, as the release came over them, head against the cold tiled wall of the shower, panting, breathless._

_They had already decided they wanted him to come back, so desperately did they hope he would return again. Soon. They needed him to come back, they might go insane if he didn't._

—

He had been on shift at the hospital from the early hours of that morning to late in the evening, it had been a busy one; a gunshot victim, some of the regular terminal patients he attend to, a car crash victim, whom they had saved, a shame he thought, it had been a while since had used a human specimen. But, he was thankful, thankful for the busyness. He had been kept thoroughly preoccupied, just what he needed. And as soon as his shift had ended he came right back home, right back to the confines of his makeshift basement lab of the house on Benevolence St.. Trying to ignore the niggling sensation at the back of his mind, that had slowly began returning now that he was less busy. He had only been half successful.

Herbert West was fixated, he had tasted the greatest candy in the store and now he needed more. He had to have more. He didn't understand what was happening, his mind had snapped, and he didn't know if he could force it to snap back. His thoughts running wild. Images of the night before invaded his mind. He attempted desperately to ignore them. Movement below the belt. Everything was off kilter. The plates of the Earth had shifted beneath him, shifted so far, cracking the Earth in two. One foot was on one side one foot on the other side of the crack, the world threatening to swallow him up if he didn't do something soon. But, what could he do?

He had to focus on something, anything, something else, something he knew, something normal to him. He needed to work. So he did.

When the car crash victim had survived, he had found a stray dog, at the back of the hospital at the end of his shift, where all the bins and waste were. The poor thing was looking for food, starving, wasting away, old, dying. It would do. And so he brought it home as he usually did with desperate creatures like that and he had put it out of its misery, but not for long. He would fix that, give new life to the beast. He had a new theory, something new he had come up with, tweaked the Re-Agent here and there, added some of this, some of that. He had yet to test it out. No better time than the present, he thought.

The basement lab was where Herbert belonged, working was where he belonged, morbid doodling, as Dan called it, was where he belonged, not in strange beds in seedy houses wrapped up in the limbs of strangers in the night. No he should be focused, focused on his life's work, perfecting the Re-Agent, getting it right, beating brain death, proving pompous plagiarists wrong. This was the only thing that mattered to Herbert West, this was what he was built for, a doctor, a scientist was all he was meant to be, here working, changing the field, conquering death. That's what he would try to convince himself at least. So he set to work, he was deep in it, some much needed normality, finally. He would forget the nonsense and he would continue on as normal.

He would try. He would think of breathless whispers, curses painted by moonlight and neon green. He would fail.

But at last he found himself lost in his work, he was so deep in his work in fact that he didn't notice when Dan Cain entered the basement, nor when the other doctor had walked right up to him, and stood beside him. 

_"Where were you last night?"_ Asked Dan and Herbert jumped a little, Dan had startled him.

 _"I was at the hospital, as you should well know Dan."_ Herbert lied.

 _"Where else would I have been?"_ He continued, not once taking his focus away from what he was currently doing, his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth. Drawing the vibrant neon green serum out of the bottle up into a syringe, squeezing out the excess and taking the needle, towards the back of the dead animals head.

 _"Are you sure? You weren't on the shift sheet for last night?"_ Dan quizzed him, because Dan had been on shift, just before the last shift and he had not seen Herbert's name among those who where about to take over from him and the others he worked with that night.

Herbert pulled away from the animal for a minute, it's limp head making a thud sound as it hit the metal bench.

 _"I very well know my own whereabouts thank you Daniel."_ Herbert snapped back. 

_"If you must know, I took a shift on last minute, I wanted to work late, I wanted to see if there was anything I could borrow from the morgue."_ Borrow a choice word, Dan didn't pay any attention to things like that anymore, he had spent far to much with the strange young doctor, he had become used to it all. Herbert had quickly invented a story for himself, before Dan had chance to question him further. A believable story he thought, and it was Dan couldn't argue with that, that did make sense for Herbert, no one else perhaps, but for Herbert West, yes.

Dan stood there for a few moments more, neither of them saying anything. It was Herbert who finally broke the silence. 

_"Now if there is nothing I can help you with, I really must get back to work."_ He said matter of fact, _"I'm busy. I don't have time for idle chat"_ Dan thought he ought to leave.

 **Now that** , was unlike Herbert, Dan thought. Usually Herbert would have him here in the basement for hours on end. He would be unable to escape as Herbert rambled on about something or other, how he definitely had it right this time, _**just watch,**_ and he would watch and it wouldn't work and Herbert would curse and Dan would stifle a laugh... But, now, no Herbert had already turned away, back to what he was doing, as thought he had forgotten Dan had even been there at all. So Dan just left, leaving him to it. 

_**Odd though**_ , he thought to himself, even for Herbert West. **Odd**.

Herbert continued what he had been doing before the other young doctor had interrupted him. Taking the needle and poking it into the back of the dogs head. The dog came back. Herbert checked his watch, it had only taken mere seconds this time. Herbert scribbled that down, along with the amount he had given. But, it was not a success, the re-animated creature began growling and snapping, foam forming at the mouth, trying to get up, trying to bite Herbert. He had given it rabies. **_Damn_.**

He just sat, annoyed, unmotivated, hitting the dead thing with a pencil. He got up, he needed to get the thing out of there, it was rotting. Pulling back the metal cabinet and revealing the hole in the wall, he pulled out some of the bricks before throwing the garbage bag containing the corpse inside and returned the bricks and the cabinet back to block the hole. 

He was thinking about it again. Herbert West needed to forget.

And make himself forget he would, for the next few days at least. He forgot and it was nothing, and everything was normal, his mind back in place, well he thought. Dan had been right after all perhaps, he would give credit where credit was due. But it was out of his system now and he wouldn't be doing that again. _**No certainly not.**_

But it wouldn't last and it was a week exactly when into the early hours of the morning, Herbert West would find himself, back there, standing on the curb of the familiar street, out in the rain, contemplating walking over to the door and knocking.

He did not. 

—


	5. III.

_the arrangement was made, without_

_a word, an unspoken law was_

_passed,and it was ours_ ,

But, it wouldn't be long before he did return to the house, to see Them again. One more week in fact. He couldn't help himself. Two weeks had been far too long. He had tried his best, held off as long as he could. He had failed, and now he would relish in his failure, relish in foreign sheets, relish in the bed and the body of a stranger, in unspeakable acts, after all Herbert West knew a thing or two about unspeakable acts.

And he wouldn't return just once, no, it had proven to much hard work to attempt to stay away, he had seen that he couldn't so why live in denial. It was pointless, so It became a regular occurrence, a once a week thing. It was an arrangement between the two of them. Herbert had his own slot, a weekly appointment. He finally decided to allow himself the pleasure of something other than work, a luxury, just for one moment, that moment being one night a week.

Dan still did not know, he would like to keep it that way. No, he would never have a clue, after all who would ever have thought Herbert West would end up regularly visiting a prostitute?

He had found that his attitude towards sex had changed. Or, maybe it hadn't, no, not really. It wasn't sex, that's not what had him hooked, it was this person in particular, the one he so desperately had to study, be close too, as close as possible. It was the sex between the two of them specifically, the sex that could not be described by words, the hours they shared, the boundaries they would push, the art they would make, the science. He imagined, he had no real point of reference, nothing would live up to this, he couldn't get this drug of choice elsewhere. He was certain. The rush he got from Their company was the only thing close, maybe even, unbeknownst to him, taking over the rush of his work, the excitement of the experiment. He had found a new experiment, how far two bodies could go.

Not many words were ever spoken between the two of them during those house, those sessions. It was unspoken that such things as words were not needed between the two of them. Words were something that would only complicate things. Things didn't need to be complicated. Not something as simple, something as animal as this. It was about need, it was about release. It was about two bodies and what they could possibly do together next next.

He would arrive, they would indulge in one and other, always more than once, many times in one night in fact, and then he would leave. Herbert would return to his everyday, working at the hospital and working on perfecting the Re-Agent, beating death, his main priority still. And **They** would continue with their own everyday. Which Herbert imagined, was mostly fucking other strangers, something that he hadn't yet realised, was that this particular thought stung him a little. It stung to think of others experiencing what felt so special, something that he wanted to be for the two of them only. But, it wasn't, he had to remind himself, They were after all a prostitute, he was not the only, he was one of many, he was a job. But still it stung and so he chose to ignore it, without really even knowing he was, disconnecting himself from it. _**No need to complicate anything.**_

_And that's exactly what They would do when he was gone, it was their job after all, it's what they did. They had loved to do it, and there was nothing wrong with that, nothing wrong with that at all... Yet, it was changing, it was becoming less and less enjoyable, each and every time, each and every client, anyone that wasn't Herbert was boring. There is only so many times you can pretend to enjoy sex that is not enjoyable, only so long that you can scream God yes and not mean it before it become exhausting. Because although he was away imagining that the way they fucked together was the way They fucked every client, that was untrue... no one else that they would ever see, had ever seen was like him, nothing was even close._

_They had even tried at first to imagine that it was him when it wasn't, but that hadn't worked because It was never the same, never even close. The most that would happen was that imaging his face rather than the faces of half the people that came to their service was a much more pleasant experience. For he was handsome in a way not many people are, he had a quite handsomeness about him, one that may not necessarily be noticed at first, but slowly snuck up on you until you really saw him for all he was. Gorgeous._

_Closing their eyes and seeing him, his beautiful face, his pale skin, his pink lips, his bright eyes, his body. What they had, what they did, it was special, it was unique, their souls had folded in on one another, they had created something magic, something that couldn't be imitated. They were serendipitous together. They would move the Earth together those beautiful nights._

_But, still They would work, because they had to after all, you have to pay the bills, you can't just stop because of powerful beautiful strangers. But it would be more reluctantly now, and they would wait, longing and yearning for the days to pass, for the sun to rise and set enough times that it would finally be time for him to walk through the door, for him to be at their service, that it would be him in the bed, when it wouldn't be boring._

And it went on like that for sometime, weeks passed and then months had passed, the air had changed, the nights becoming colder. Summer had become fall and fall had become winter before long. And it was okay that it was like that because It would have to be okay...

—

It would be early January when they would finally come across each other in an entirely different setting, unplanned and unbeknownst to either of them, a sudden twist of fate, the universe would throw them together again in brand new circumstances. It was a Friday night when **They** would find themself walking into the Miskatonic University Hospital. A stab wound to their left cheek. **_Christ_**.

It was almost the end of Herbert's shift at the hospital that evening when he would be asked to take on another patient. 

_"Mr. West, there's a patient in bay five, stab wound to the left cheek, could you take it, take Mr. Cain too"_ The Leading doctor on call had asked, Herbert had nodded and made his way towards bay five. 

When he pulled the curtain back his face dropped. There **They** were, sitting on the bed, legs dangling over the side, ethereal beauty sticking out like a saw thumb in this horribly average place. Looking unearthly still in the horrible, nausea and headache inducing fluorescent lights of the hospital. There was blood dripping down the side of their face, even this was flawless on them, vibrant red against their skin. He had to control his thoughts.

Suddenly Dan emerged from around the curtain joining the two of them. _**Be natural**_ , Herbert told himself. That was going to prove difficult before to long. 

_"I'm Doctor West and this is Doctor Cain."_ Herbert moved closer toward the bed. _"We'll be dealing with you and your treatment tonight"_

_They were taken a back by his brashness at first, a look of confusion on their face for a moment but then They got it. It would be a whole awkward explanation of how they knew each other, if the other young doctor were to ask how they did. They could imagine him not wanting that conversation at his work place, especially a work place like this, it was fair, better to pretend._

_They had no idea he was a doctor. Then, they didn't really know much about each other apart from names, and what each other looked like naked, and how they fucked. But God, God did he look good. Especially in that lab coat. Suddenly their mind was filled with a whole new set of fantasies, ideas they had never been aware of or thought about before._

Herbert was trying desperately, desperately to act normal, but it was becoming increasingly hard to act casual. How to act casual around a creature like that, especially when they knew him inside and out, even if they didn't know much about him at all. He was right beside them now, but he was not acknowledging them at all, he was speaking to Dan, it was almost as if he were trying to act as if they were not there at all. He was. 

_"This is a deep wound"_ He said, after a few minutes, finally talking to Them, his face was serious, a look of genuine concern plastered across it. _"What happened?"_ An eyebrow raised above his square glasses. He touched their cheek, their breath pausing for a moment.

_"Oh I was in a bar and these two guys started giving this girl trouble, and I wasn't having that y'know?"_ They said, acting as though being stabbed in the face was no big deal. 

_"So they stabbed you?"_ Dan asked bewildered. 

_"Yeah, fucking crazy people, but yeah it's whatever, I'm pretty used to crazy people"_ They laughed, Dan laughed with them. Herbert did not. 

_"Yeah, yeah I know the feeling."_ Dan smiled, Herbert frowned.

_"Dr. Cain, would you be able to get me some sutures?"_ Herbert asked, trying to get Dan out of the way for even just a moment. He needed to breathe. 

Dan was not completely oblivious though, he had of course noticed that something was off with Herbert, he was acting weird, even for Herbert weird. He decided not to question it, not yet, they had a patient right now, he would ask later.

_"Yes of course, I'll be right back. You sit tight"_ He said turning his attention to Them, giving a friendly smile before he disappeared behind the curtain.

Herbert let out a deep breath, feeling that finally he could relax for just a moment whilst Dan was gone.

_"Well, who would have thought you'd be a doctor"_ They said, legs dangling off the bench still, swinging them back and forth like a child.

_"Did you have any idea what you were doing?"_ Herbert raised his voice. _**How could They be so careless?** _They were too valuable to be getting into scenarios like that, what if some fatal harm had come to such a splendid creature. The thought alone was a tragedy.

_"I'm fine, doc. Honestly!"_ They replied, shrugging it off.

_"Herbert... I mean Doctor... No, no, this is serious, you could have been seriously hurt."_ He put a hand on their knee, they looked in each other's eyes for a moment, and there was all the unsaid. There was the chemicals between them, unable to be ignored. He would still try, Herbert moved his hand instantly. This was exactly the kind of complication he had wished to avoid.

_"Well ain't you my knight in shinning armour"_ They gave a chuckle.

_"You have to be careful"_ Herberts tone was stern, _"It could have been much worse, you are very lucky."_ He was still inspecting the wound. His face was close to Their own, he could feel the warmth of their breath on his face.

_"Don't wanna ruin a face like this do I?"_ They winked, and what Herbert wanted to say was _**no, no you don't, such a marvel of science should be preserved, protected.**_ But instead;

_"Just be careful from now on."_ The look on his face said, please.

_"Don't want me coming around here too often?_ " They raised an eyebrow, smirking.

Again it was what he wanted to say, but couldn't, he wanted to say, _**no I can't help myself around you,**_ but instead, just;

_"Is everything a joke to you?"_ snapping as he said it. They seemed taken aback by his harsh tone. They were being fairer and more understanding of the way he was currently being, than he perhaps deserved.

Dan emerged again from behind the curtain. His face an expression of shock, hearing the way Herbert had addressed their patient. But, then again, it was Herbert, he was many, many things, but a people person was not among those things.

Herbert began cleaning the wound, his fingers soft on their face, his touch sent a bolt of electricity through their skin and deep inside their bones. Both their minds were sent into a frenzy, both unaware of how the other were truly feeling. They wanted to take his hand and hold it close, kiss his fingers. He wanted to fuck Them right there and then.

But, instead there was silence and they sat as still as possible for him as he went on to stitching up the wound. No one in the room really talking, the tension could have been cut with a knife. Finally Herbert was finished with the procedure.

_"Doctor Cain, could I have a moment alone with our patient."_ Herbert's request was unexpected and an odd one, Dan didn't really know what to say, so instead he nodded and stepped away again. He would get his answers some other time. 

_"We can't meet like this, you have to-"_

_"Okay Doctor West, I get it, I'm your dirty little secret."_ The look of the devil on Their face.

God they were testing him and it was working, hard was an understatement, he was throbbing in his trousers. 

_"Please." He sounded desperate, this turned Them on significantly more than they already were, and they were already quite turned on. They couldn't quite believe just how strong the effect They seemed to have over him was, but It was only fair he did the same to them._

_"Yes, I will try and not get stabbed again, can't be disturbing you at work, Dr. West"_ They cut him off.

_"You are free to go now."_ Was all that Herbert said after a pause. He didn't know what more to add, for once Herbert West was speechless.

_"So see you in a couple days?"_ They smirked, climbing down off the bed, Herbert nodded, a slight smile on his face but he said nothing.

This was the most amount of words the two of them had ever exchanged. They left without another word, just a wave. As they disappeared around the corner, Dan came back over, he went to speak but he didn't have a chance as Herbert strode away, down the corridor.

_"Woah, woah woah, Herbert wait up."_ Dan chased after the other doctor, _"what the hell was going on back there?"_

_"That is none of your business"_ He replied, his voice carrying a warning that Dan shouldn't push any further, Dan didn't listen.

They were stood still in the long white hospital corridor now,

_"No, no I think it is, do you know that patient?"_ Dan quizzed.

_"Well... yes. I do know them yes."_ Herbert turned his head, scratching the side of his face.

_"Wait, how?"_ Dan was intrigued now, this was really odd. How was it he knew this person, and was acting so sketchy about it all.

_"Again, Dan it really is none of your business, now don't you have work to do?"_ Herbert was deflecting. Dan didn't have the energy, the day had been too long for this. He gave up.

Herbert walked away, he needed to go home. For the first time in a long time, Herbert West wanted a lie down.

—


	6. IV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: warnings for this chapter, it's way more nsfw than the previous smut scenes - more descriptive. this chapter is basically plotless smut whoops. 
> 
> ~ specific warnings for - light bdsm/rough sex, degrading, oral and fisting. (dubcon warning just incase)

_you pushed me further, further_

_than I had ever been before,_

He arrived with desperation. Their unexpected visit to the hospital and how it had left Herbert yearning for Them, to be wrapped up, intertwined, moulded with Their body was all too much. He had waited eagerly and desperately for the night to come. Days feeling like eternities due to his frustrations. Finally though, it did come, Wednesday had rolled around, their arranged night.

The unexpected encounter at the hospital had awoken a new intensity in their desire for each other, a new desire in the both of them, not just Herbert. The fact that they had been so close together and had not been able to fuck had driven the both of them crazy over the last few days and now they needed each other more than ever. That was the nature of the two of them and their /relationship/ after all.

He was always expected on Wednesday, at their specific time, and he was never late. He would be let in by the Madam and make his own way upstairs, to the room on the third floor, the room he only ever saw lit by the neon green lights, the room that held the secrets, the stories, the scenes of them, the most sordid of plays. Oh if anyone were to be a fly on the wall of that room, on those particular nights, the things they would see.

There was a hunger in both of them that night, stronger than ever, a violent desperate hunger that could only be appeased one way, and they were both dedicated to nothing else than appeasing that hunger.

_They were standing their waiting for him, bated breaths, naked skin. As soon as he walked into the room he began taking of his tie, unbuttoning his shirt and removing it, the door not even fully closed behind him yet. He wasn't wasting any time tonight. Walking over to them, he pushed them hard against the wall, kissing them roughly, his hands feeling all over Their body, making sure he worshipped all of it, every centimetre. That beautiful, ethereal body. A body that could only have been carved by some otherworldly force._

_He started by kissing Their neck and made his way down onto Their chest, bitting and sucking in between kisses, making sure to leave his mark. His beautiful mouth, those wonderful lips. He was sending shivers down their spine. His touch was magnetic._

_They were both stripped completely bare now. **They** were always mesmerised by him, but especially in this light, the way the neon glow would engulf him, surround him, become him. The colour belonged on him, belonged to him. He was such a sight, he was divine. The way the light illuminated his naked body. He looked strong, he looked powerful. The floor was his, so to speak, and so were they. He could have them, whatever, however he pleased. And he would._

_He took Their face in his hands, held Them by the chin and kissed Them again. An honest and rare moment of tenderness from Herbert, his own personal way of saying; this is going to be rough, prepare yourself. They couldn't have even begun to prepare themself for the scene that was about to play out._

_They fell back onto the bed together, not letting go of each other, not even for a second. Quickly they became a mess of tangled limbs, intertwined and lost in each other. They were kissing and it was violent and it was desperate. Their hands both clumsy, feeling all over one another's bare bones. Praising every inch of one another. They knew every inch of one another by now._

_He was not waiting, he was not to be slow, he knew what he wanted and he would have it, now not later. So down went his wonderful hands; It was those skilled hands, the hands of a doctor, that they were sure would be the death of them. The hands that could please them in ways no one else ever had or ever would, his hands alone, never mind the rest of him._

_So down moved his hands, down, until he found what he wanted, what he needed, an opening and without a pause he directed two of his fingers inside them, he hadn't even prepared them for it, he did not have the patience for that, neither of them did, not tonight. A beautiful pain shooting all the way through Them. He was hard and fast tonight, he wasn't even going to pretend he was going to go slow. They didn't mind at all. And on he went pounding them, thrusting deeper and deeper and then..._

_Three fingers,_

_Working Their hole, loosening them up for himself, spreading them wider and wider and then without warning,_

_Four,_

_They winced in pain._

_And again, working on them._

**_Oh God._ **

_He was showing no sign of stopping. They could only pray he wouldn't._

_He didn't._

_Five._

_They closed their eyes._

_Clenched their teeth._

**_Christ. Fuck. Shit._ **

_All the curse words in the world would not do it justice. His whole hand was inside them now. They had never been stretched this wide before. They hadn't even thought they could take something like this, although secretly they had always wanted to try. It was like he had read their mind. He had proved them wrong, that they could take it, that they would take it. He would have made them no matter what, they were certain of that. They didn't mind at all. He could and would do what he pleased._

_His breath heavy._

_**Fuck**._

_Manic concentration._

_The weight of his body between their legs._

_Skin brushing skin._

_Sweat. Heat. Desperation._

_Melodic moaning._

_He balled his hand into a fist._

**_Fucking Christ._ **

_He was thrusting his fist in and out at an unbelievable pace, he was going so deep, down to the wrist. They were screaming, they couldn't help themself, nothing had ever hurt so bad before, nothing had ever felt like this before, they had never felt pain like it and God did it feel good. Gorgeous, beautiful, nausea inducing, intoxicating pain._

_They were shaking, trembling, a wreck. Head spinning. Completely at his mercy._

_He took his other hand and placed it around Their throat, he began to choke them, hard. They we're getting so close now. They were delirious, losing consciousness as he continued thrusting his fist in and out and squeezing Their throat hard._

_Closer now. Wheezing they attempted to speak, managing only to stammer;_

_"Her... Herbert" and he smirked, he fucking smirked. That asshole._

_He knew what he was doing, and just as they were finally about to pass out, he let go. They gasped for air, desperate to fill Their lungs before he had a chance to start again. The thrusting of his fist stopped too, much to Their dismay._

_“Wh—" They cried out._

_"I can tell you are close." He said. "And I-" he put strong emphasises on the /I/ "Am not ready for you to come yet."_

**_Holy shit._ **

_He was in control, this was unusual, he was by no means submissive, but still, usually it would be Them taking the lead, and maybe he would now and then, but it had never been like this. They could see tonight, tonight it was Herbert who would be the one in full control. They didn't have a say. They liked this shift in roles, especially if this was the kind of thing that would happen with it, if this was what he was truly like._

_"I want you to beg." He ordered, "prove that you want it, prove to me you deserve it. That you are the whore that deserves me."_

_He was vocal tonight, unusually so, they liked it, liked being told what to do, liked the way he was talking to them. They would happily oblige him, anytime, anything. To be degraded by him was a pleasure in itself, something they never knew. Part of them just wanted him to do this alone for hours on end. They could probably come from that alone._

_"Herbert-" They started to beg but he cut Them off._

_"No, no that's not right and you know it." He said, demeaning._

_"Please, s-s-sir." They stuttered, shaking. He smirked._

**_God._ **

_"Please sir, what?" He asked, he was being cruel. They were practically squirming beneath the weight of his body in desperation._

_"Please fuck me sir." They begged._

_"Stop playing stupid... or are you just a stupid slut after all?" He mocked._

_**Fuck.** Where this had come from, They did not know, but they could die for it. Would happily die for it. _

_"Sir, please fuck me, don't stop fisting me, make me come." They hoped they had got it right this time. The look on his face said They had._

_"Good. Pathetic whore." And then, again without any warning, his hand around their neck, squeezing tighter, and in went his full fist, in and out, down to the wrist again. In and out. In and out. Unbearable, unbelievable, wonderful pain._

_They were so unbelievably close now._

_**Closer.** _

_"Oh god- I'm, going to-." They managed to speak as he loosened his grip around their neck for a moment. He cut them off._

_"No, no you're not." That fucking smirk again._

_"H- Sir, please." Pleading, pathetic desperation, he really had reduced them to this._

_And it went on like that, maybe four or five times, denying them the pleasure of release. It would only make it more amazing when he finally let them, if he finally let them._

_It took sometime, but he would. And the release was so sweet, it felt like nothing ever had before, They had never come like that. All the times They thought they really had pushed the limits together - no, nothing like this, they were just getting started. **He** was just getting started. _

_They could feel the bruising around Their throat._

_Herbert stood up without a moment of pause._

_"I want you to please me now." He was not asking. It was an order. "Take me in your mouth."_

_They were so exhausted. Legs shaking. But still, They did instantly, climbing off the bed and kneeling before him. To them he was a God,for once he was not so angered by the concept of such ridiculous things._

_They took his whole length in Their mouth, beautiful lips wrapped around him._

_He moaned._

_"Good." He cooed._

_He was forcing Their head back and forth, throat fucking them. They gagged. He smirked. They knew that They were unbelievably good at this. They also knew, he knew it was because they were desperate to please him, especially tonight. They were bringing him close now, any moment he would come._

_They tried to stop. He gripped Their hair, tight, pulling Their head up to look at him. He had caught them. Herbert knew what They were trying to do, play his own game, deny him his release, as he had denied them Theirs so many times._

_"Ah, ah. No I don't think so." He forced himselfinto their mouth, throat fucking them, hard, fast, deep. The three words they would use to describe him if ever They were asked._

_They had no issue with this, it was Their own kind of heaven. They knew that he knew that. He knew that They loved this roughness, this forcefulness. He kept thrusting, deep into the back of Their throat. And they kept going, doing the best job they could to please him._

_It wasn't long before he came, that wonderful release he had been needing for days. He lay back on the bed. They stayed put, feeling unable to move. They looked at him, half in darkness, half illuminated by neon._

_He was divinely beautiful, to a hellish extent._

_He stayed for a while after, They lay beside him. Body aching with exhaustion. Neither of them spoke, only the sounds of their heavy breaths could and the cars on the street outside could be heard. The moonlight made patterns on their naked bodies._

_And still he did not move, not for an hour or more. Finally, he stood up, collecting his clothes and dressing himself._

_"I will see you soon?" A rhetorical question, they both knew they would be meeting again, if it hadn't already have been arranged before, it would have been after **that**._

_They had no words, so simply They nodded, and he vanished, out the door, shutting it behind him._

_They counted in Their head,_

**_One minute_ **

**_Two minutes_ **

**_Three,_ **

_And then They stood, walking over to the window._

_And They watched him as he left, watched as he fixed his scarf, smoothed his dark hair back into place, watched as he hurried down the steps of the porch, watched as he crossed the road and made his way down the street and soon disappear around the corner, and was gone. Just as they had that very first night._

—


	7. V.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> aka soft herbert

_you offered me a place, I_

_couldn't refuse you,_

Herbert had been busy for the last couple of weeks, and so he hadn't had the time to make their usual appointments. Life gets in the way, the hospital shifts and not to mention that he was making big breakthroughs on the Re-agent, and no matter what that always had to come first, it was his main priority always. But finally after a few weeks had come and gone, Herbert had once again found the time and so after what had felt like an absence of them all together, another Wednesday finally came.

And so Herbert was on his way to see Them again, for their scheduled session. His mind was full of ideas, fantasies that he had every intention of fulfilling. He wanted to push even further than last time, see how far they could go. He needed them, badly, but then he always needed them. But, the intensity of desperation was higher than ever, the amount of time that had past since the last time he had been with them, had had them, left him more and more in need of them.

He parked his car on the street over, he always did this, to be safe, just in case, he didn't want anyone seeing where he was going. This whole thing had instilled a paranoia in him he had never really experienced before, so he had taken precautions, he would park a street over and would then walk the rest of the way to the house.

His heart was beating fast with anticipation. His mind running wild. Desperation, eagerness. He was ready to hold that ethereal being in his arms, feel their skin against his own again, get completely lost in them, let everything go and feel nothing but nirvana. 

However when Herbert rounded the corner onto the street and made his way closer to the house, it was much to his surprise and confusion, that he saw Them. They were sat out on the curb, head in their hands, a suitcase and a backpack beside them. 

He approached Them with caution. Looking down as he stood before Them on the road. They were sobbing loudly. It took a moment before They even noticed that he was there. When They finally did notice him, They looked up, eyes glassy with tears. They kicked some gravel with an old canvas shoe, stifling a sob, attempting to smile.

There was complete silence between them for a few moments, until They finally spoke.

_"Hey,Herbert"_ Their voice, soft and small. Unusual for Them, They were usually so confident in Their tone. They looked up at him now and he looked into Their sad eyes.

_"Why are you out here, like this?"_ He asked, his brows furrowed.

_"Oh it's nothing-"_ They attempted to lie. A feeble attempt really, it couldn't be more obvious that something was wrong.

_"It clearly isn't nothing, you're sat out here in the rain, at one in the morning and not to mention, you are crying."_ He pointed out. 

_"Yeah, okay you got me."_ They shrugged.

_"So, what are you doing out here like this?"_ He tried again.

_"It fucking sucks Herbert. It fucking sucks."_ They yelled, in between violent sobs. _"I gotta get the fuck out of here. I need to go. I gotta get the fuck out of here right now."_ Clearly whatever was wrong, they couldn't hold it in any longer.

He was at a loss for words. The outburst had taken him completely by surprise. He didn't even know where to being. What had happened? Where had all this come from? He didn't know much about them, but they had always given off this idea that They loved it here, loved what they did. He supposed, that was easy to fake. 

_"I'm sorry"_ It was really all he could manage. He desperately wished he could say more, do more, anything.

_"It's not your problem, don't worry."_ They attempted to give a weak smile.

_"No, no I think it is."_ He replied, and it was sincere.

_"It's just jerk after fucking jerk, they think you're not a person. No, I'm not a person. I'm a thing. That's all I am."_ They said resigned. He felt there was much more to this story, but he didn't want to push. 

Herbert strongly disagreed with what they said. He did not think they were a **_thing_** , nor an object. No, Herbert thought they were a miracle, the most beautiful thing he had ever laid his eyes upon. He would not tell Them this.

There was a silence between the two of them for a long moment, They took a deep breath in and a sharp exhale, as though they were about to speak again, but said nothing.

_"Do you not have anywhere to go?"_ He asked.

_"Not, not really... I don't really have anyone."_ The way they said it and the way They looked at him, he knew that They thought that he thought They were pathetic. He did not, not at all. _"There is probably a hotel somewhere, I'll find one."_

And then They paused for a moment. They sighed.

_"I gotta get out of here Herbie."_ They said, as though completely lost, altogether. But still, it was as though even just saying that alone, had released the weight of the world from Their shoulders, even for just a moment.

Normally, hearing someone refer to him as something like _**Herbie**_ would get a reaction out him, normally he couldn't stand that kind of thing, normally he would correct them, _**Herbert**_ or _**Doctor** **West**_. But, nothing about Them or the two of them for that matter was normal, so no, not now, not them. Instead, Herbert just looked down at them once more, into those eyes, those teary helpless eyes, eyes that held whole worlds inside them. 

He didn't know why he did what he did next, it was out of character for him completely, but it just came out of him, without a second thought;

Bending down he picked up the old battered suitcase that was lay on the ground beside Them.

_"Very well then."_ He said, and reached out his other hand out to help Them up from the curb. They took it and he helped pull them up. They wiped the remnants of gravel and dirt from the back of Their jeans with their hands. 

_"What?"_ They asked, confused, now standing face to face with him, looking into his eyes.

_"If it is so awful and terrible here, that you are out on the street crying at one thirty in the morning, with nowhere else to go, then you'll come with me until we can figure something out."_ He said it and even to his surprise he meant it, he really meant it.

Herbert West could not bare to see this soul in such despair. He found that when he looked at them now, into those red and tear stained eyes, heard the sharp pain of Their sobs, it hurt him, deeply it hurt him, it made him ache, and he had to do something, anything he could. 

They looked at him, with all the wonder in the world in Their eyes, a look that he felt he would never deserve. 

_"Oh, Herbert, you don't have to do that, I'm not you're problem -"_ He cut them off.

_"I'm a Doctor, I'm supposed to help people... or so I'm often told"_ They laughed and Herbert found that some deep part of him liked that, really liked that, and he smiled.

He was at a loss. Herbert West could not believe it, for the first time in a long time, Herbert West was being kind.

—

_The house was old. Really old. Old and cold. Wallpaper was falling from the walls, cracks in the ceiling, the floor boards unbelievably creaky. It was not the nicest place They had ever seen, but it had to be better than **there**. They were lucky, They were beyond thankful to the strange doctor, for what he had done, how he had helped Them._

_It would be nice to stay for a while, even if a while was just tonight._

_They looked around the lounge area, walking about, having a look. Herbert observing them as They did. Their hands balled up inside the worn sleeves of Their oversized sweater. There wasn't much personal touch in the house. But then, They supposed that made sense for a place inhabited by two young doctors, they were probably too busy to care about things like decorating and hanging up photos._

_"There is a spare room, just there at the end of the hall." Herbert began making his way towards it, carrying Their suitcase. They followed behind him._

_"Are you sure this is okay?" They asked for what must have been the tenth time, since they had pulled up into the driveway of the house on Benevolent street alone. "Your roommate won't mind?" Herbert just chuckled._

_"The one thing I can tell you about Dan Cain is that he has an absurd amount of empathy and care for those he doesn't know and even more for the ones he does. This is usually the kind of thing he would do." He said._

_"We don't want to give him a heart attack from your unusual behaviour." They teased,"so you're certain?" They asked one last time._

_"As his fiancé constantly tells me I should. I am taking a leaf out of his book on this occasion" He said turning to look at them._

_"Oh, so it's nothing to do with me then, you're just trying to prove a point?" They smirked, teasing him._

_"N-nn-no, that's... I didn't... I" He stuttered, and They could have sworn that They could see the redness of embarrassment creeping in to his cheeks,_

_"I'm playing with you, don't worry." They said whilst wiping Their nose._

_"It's my pleasure to have you here." He smiled._

_"Of course it is." They winked, teasing him again. And this time his cheeks definitely turned red._

_They approached the bedroom door now and Herbert pushed it open, gesturing for them to go first. They stepped inside._

_The room was okay. There was a chest of draws, a bedside table with a lamp and a double bed in the centre. A lot of empty storage boxers cluttered the place, there was some damp and water damage on the ceiling, but it was fine, anything was better than that place. They were just glad to be out of there. They gave a silent sigh of relief._

_They had attempted and managed for a long time to kid themself that they liked it there, that it was home, an untraditional one but home. It wasn't. It wasn't the work, they liked that, to an extent. They imagined being a high class escort would be a very exciting job. But high class they were not, and so it was the clients. The clients of a place like that were trouble, there were not many Herbert West's that visit places like that, or in the world altogether, to Their dismay._

_But, They had found Herbert West, the one that did exist, and he had no idea how he had just saved Them.No matter what he had said about himself, They thought he must be truly good. One of the few._

_That evening, back at the house, that place, it had hit its breaking point and the only thing left that They could do was leave, so They had. Now here They were, in Herbert West's spare bedroom. The only client that had never made them feel used._

_They plopped Their rucksack down on the bed, and turned to Herbert, who was standing in the doorway, with his hands in his pockets._

_"Thank you. Herbert, truly thank you so much for this. Are you sure it isn't a problem? I can go? I'm sure there's a hotel around here." They meant it, they would hate to be in the way. It was crazy to them that he had even offered in the first place._

_"It is fine." Was all he said, still stood in the doorway._

_They made Their way over to him, reaching into Their pocket they pulled out some money._

_"Here, it's about a hundred, is that okay for a couple of nights?" They asked._

_Herbert was taken aback._

_"You don't have to do that, I wouldn't expect that you know." He said, his voice genuine._

_"No, no I want to, I promise I'll try to figure something out in the morning, even if it's a hotel, I'll be out of your hair, and Dan's too." They meant it, They felt like a burden as it was._

_"Okay, very well." He took the notes reluctantly, smiling at them as he did._

_They took a couple of more steps towards him, just centimetres apart from each other now. It was like an out of body experience and before they knew what they were doing, They threw Their arms around him and nestled Their head in his chest, holding onto him tighter than they had ever held anything before._

_Neither of them said a word. After a moment or two They let go. Looking up at Herbert, he seemed at a loss._

_"I'm sorry" They said, folding their arms across their chest._

_"It's fine." He replied. They smiled. "Well I suppose I'll leave you to get settled, call me if you need anything." Herbert said, just about to turn and leave._

_"Herbert." They stopped him, "I hate to be annoying but, is there anyway I could shower or bathe. Whatever it is you have" They felt awful and desperately needed to freshen up._

_"Yes of course, the bathroom is directly across" He pointed. "There should be clean towels in there"_

_"Thank you." They smiled again._

_Herbert walked away, making his way down the hall, opening a door and disappearing out of sight._

_They were still for a few moments more, before finally moving and crossing the hall to the bathroom._

_The bathroom was much like the rest of the house, not much too it, a little worse for wear. But there was character to it, again like the rest of the house._

_The turned the shower tap on, letting the water heat up before getting in, whilst undressing. They stepped in and let the water wash over them, and as it did it felt like they were washing the stench of that place off of them. Cleaning it all away, letting it go and leaving it behind. Starting again. Clean._

—


End file.
